Why does it cost so much just to look on the Internet?”

I get this question a lot, and too often from “professionals” who should know better. I will list a few of the reasons here.

To begin with, I never know how the research results will be used in the future. That means that the results must be properly documented so that it would be reproducible if someone else with similar skill did the searches at the same time as I did.

If at some future date what I find becomes important evidence, then how it was found, where it was found, when it was found, and what it actually looked like becomes very important. My report and the supporting material may be the only proof of the existence of the material being entered into evidence.

The computers must be free of malicious code (S. 31 Canada Evidence Act). We often set aside a computer for this purpose after doing some Spring-Cleaning.

The logic of the research process must be clear and easy to explain to anyone. This logic must be explained in the report. Search statements must be recorded. The project directory and file naming and structures must be logical and properly documented. The evidence must have a clear and documented chain of custody.

Providing this evidence requires skill, training, experience, software, computers, office space, support staff, and time.  Finally, did you know it takes at least twice as long to do the report as it does to do the research?

Mispronouncing foreign or unusual English words during a presentation or during court testimony immediately signals that you are not an expert in the subject you are discussing.  These sites will  help you pronounce both English  and foreign words better.

• 10 Tips for Private Investigators to Conduct More Successful Surveillance
• Follow that Car: 10 Mobile Surveillance Tips for Private Investigators

R for reliability. The basic truthfulness or accuracy of the information you are evaluating.

I  for the importance of the data based upon its releveance

C  for the cost of your possible reactions or actions relating to the information

E  for the effectiveness of your  actions based upon this information. Would actions based upon this information solve the problems you face?

This format is useful for summarizing collected data and for analyzing how you might apply the data in a broad range of situations.

PS:

Just remember, as the old pessimist philosopher Arnold Schopenhauer stated, “The truth will set you free . . . but first it will make you miserable.”

This writes like a normal pen, but if you heat the paper the written words disappear. Putting the paper in the freezer makes the words reappear.

RUSSIAN KGB DISAPPEARING INK PEN

This pen features a special gel ink developed by real KGB scientists during the Cold War (and made in Russia), that disappears completely. Because it is a gel pen, you don’t need to press hard which prevents paper indenting.

UV Sensitive INK PEN

I guess every good spy needs to have his missives disappear, but I  need to secretly mark documents for later reference.

Pens like this have been  around for quite some time.  The Fisher Space Pen was at one time offered with UV Sensitive Ink refills. I occasionally use UV sensitive ink to mark important documents for security purposes.

 “This job is a shredder, and agents are grist for the mill,” said K.C. Smith, an OPM investigator in Austin, Texas, with 23 years of experience. “There are people who are getting sick, under a lot of stress, their family life is suffering. They are just beat down.”

Investigators say it is common practice to spend nights, weekends and holidays writing up reports, and some don’t report the overtime they work for fear it will be held against them in their performance evaluations.

 Investigators say it is common practice to spend nights, weekends and holidays writing up reports, and some don’t report the overtime they work for fear it will be held against them in their performance evaluations.

Some say their superiors have made it clear that the priority is to close cases, and they say they have felt pressure to turn in even incomplete cases that lack crucial interviews or records if it will help them keep their numbers up. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that the Defense Department’s security clearance process is plagued by such incomplete cases: 87 percent of the 3,500 initial top-secret security clearance cases Defense approved last year were missing at least one interview or important record.

Investigators are rewarded for investigation reports, not for doing proper investigations.

Orwell’s Rules

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech seen in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.